Signs are a start to Barrington acting on accessibility issue at Town Hall

Tuesday

Nov 13, 2007 at 9:54 AMNov 13, 2007 at 10:00 AM

By AMANDA DUMONDDemocrat Staff Writer

BARRINGTON — Officials will work to install signage at Town Hall as a temporary solution to the lack of handicapped accessibility at the facility.

The town must eventually renovate the building or move to another facility, however, because it could be facing a lawsuit.

The town was cited in September because its building does not comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act after town resident Susan Karmeris contacted the N.H. Disabilities Rights Center. The center conducted an audit of Town Hall this summer.

Last year, Karmeris' rheumatoid arthritis became so debilitating she began to use a motorized chair.

Fully mobile until that time, Karmeris said she was determined to continue going about her daily business. When she came to register two vehicles and get a new dog license last year, she was surprised to find she could not access Town Hall's second floor for these services.

After three separate visits where she was assisted in the Town Hall's basement level, Karmeris said she was frustrated and wanted to sue the town.

She said she was particularly upset after the incident where she sent her 8-year-old grandson to the town clerk's office to register her car.

Karmeris claims she was told the office was too busy to help her after there was a problem with the registration. Staff said Karmeris was helped after the problem was resolved with the state.

Following this incident, Karmeris read about the New Hampshire Disability Rights Center in a newspaper article and contacted them for help.

During the center's audit of Town Hall, a center representative found the town offices are not accessible by ramp or elevator and rooms on the middle and top floors are completely inaccessible to handicapped persons.

Handicapped parking is located next to one of the inaccessible entrances, and a handicapped individual must travel a long path to the accessible entry that also includes a ramp built into a hill. The handicapped accessible entrance is not clearly marked, and the interior ramp from the Town Hall meeting room to the hallway with a bathroom also does not meet code.

James Fox, with the Disability Rights Center, said that providing more signage directing people to the single handicapped entrance at Town Hall was a good start. Selectmen also are considering installing a buzzer or telephone that handicapped people can use to alert staff that they are waiting downstairs for service.

Karmeris' said she decided to take action because she also knows of several other town residents who are handicapped who conduct their business in the Town Hall parking lot or don't visit the facility anymore.

Fox said that serving handicapped residents in the parking lot or in a hallway doesn't work very well because it is segregating those people from the rest of the town and its services.

Barrington already offers a service where handicapped persons can call ahead if they require additional assistance, but Fox said this also segregates those people.

"I don't think these people want special treatment, they just want to be able to conduct their business like everyone else does," Selectman Mike Morrison noted.

Town officials have attempted to make improvements to Town Hall in the past two years, but residents rejected that warrant article at Town Meeting in March. Meeting ADA requirements is costly, as the town learned. Engineering and architectural costs alone were estimated at $800,000 and total renovations at $2.4 million.

A similar attempt to spend $356,000 to install an elevator on the outside of town hall also was rejected by voters during town elections in 2006.

Selectman Ken Grant said residents cannot bear any additional increases to the tax rate, and he suggested a public room be made available in the basement for handicapped residents to sit in while waiting for or receiving services.

"If you say that I can't access Town Hall because it's a greater burden to the town, then I have a problem with that," Karmeris said.

Other selectmen said the board has to do a better job of educating the public about the lack of handicapped accessibility at Town Hall and the consequences it can bring.

Fox said he will ask his director to consider helping the town do some outreach.

Fox added the center will wait to see what the town will do to correct the handicapped accessibility violations before taking any further action.

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